Brown
A Snowy Christmas Wedding in Utah
From the bride, Sarah: Daniel and I are both avid skiers. We knew we wanted to get married in the mountains, it’s our favorite place in the whole world. We wanted a luxurious après ski wedding with a warm holiday glow and our closest family plus a few friends who were crazy enough to make the trip.
THE DAY OF
We had a blizzard the day of our wedding. The most beautiful thick white snowy blanket that fell steadily for the whole day and into the night, it was magical!!
THE RECEPTION
Our reception was filled with gold glittery candles, red holly berries, brown pinecones on deep green pine boughs, and aspen tree accents. I felt like I was outside in the mountains—but inside of the coziest lodge glowing with the most lovely holiday sparkle!
ADVICE
Be chill. It’s your one and only dream-come-true day to celebrate the love of your life and the beginning of the rest of your forever together. At a certain point you let it go and just go with it because the day is going to be as wonderful as you allow it to be. Our day was wonderful and I did my best to soak up every moment
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Logan Walker Photography // Event Designer: Silver Summit Event Design // Floral Designer: artisan bloom // Venue: Stein Eriksen Lodge
A Rocky Mountain Wedding with a Teepee in Ridgway, Colorado
From the bride, Carey: Paul and I really wanted our wedding day to be about us and our love for each other. We’re both very introverted and planning a wedding ourselves was very stressful at times. We wanted to share our big day with family and friends because they mean so much to us, but we had to keep reminding ourselves throughout the whole process that it wasn’t about them and it wasn’t about making anyone else happy but us.
WHY OURAY, COLORADO
Ouray was a special spot for both of us separately before we even started dating – I liked the hot springs and Paul loves to ice climb. I said Ouray was one of my favorite spots in my Match.com profile and he totally picked up on that. It was one of our bonding moments. Since being together we have traveled to Ouray regularly and have decided we really want to move there someday. We are currently in the process of trying to figure out how to make that work, sooner rather than later. We almost instantly agreed that it’s where we should get married. It’s such a gorgeous little mountain town and we really wanted to share it with our family and friends.
THE FIRST LOOK
The first look was so special and important for us. It allowed us to take a breath, recenter and refocus on each other, and have a really profound and beautiful moment just the two of us, before heading into the blissful revelry of the wedding.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
Driving away together as man and wife – best 25 minutes on the road ever!
MY ADVICE
Have fun and make it about YOU and nobody else. Don’t stress the small stuff, but do as much as you can upfront so you don’t have to run around like crazy people on the days leading up to the wedding.
RECOMMENDED WEDDING VENDORS: Photographer: Taylor Jones Photography // Floral Designer: Dahlia Floral // Hair Stylist: Salon Envy // Venue: Secret Garden
A Rustic Western Wedding in Montana
Refined rustic. Western chic. Simply elegant. Joanna and Josh’s gorgeous wedding at the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch was all that and so much more. With help from the incredibly brilliant team at Lukas Trudeau Event Company, the day was one filled with sophisticated charm from the bride’s custom gown to the pheasant feather accents. From the groom’s custom Prada suit to the delicious dessert spread by the talented gals at Elle’s Belles Bakery. The sublime Montana fall weather to the equine guest appearance. Call it whatever quality comes to mind – this wedding is picture perfect.
The Wedding Vendors: Photographer: Lauren Brown Photography // Event Planner & Floral Designer: Lukas Trudeau Event Co // Cake: Elle’s Belles Bakery // Dress Designer: Joan Shum Brides // Venue: Mountain Sky Guest Ranch
A Paradise Valley Montana Wedding
From the bride, Sarah: Pickers’ paradise was the theme for our wedding. Danny is an all American picker, famous for coming home with special treasures for me that he picked up for next to nothing everywhere from garage sales to auctions to even the dump! We have been collecting antique treasures for long enough that we didn’t have to rent a single decoration for our big day – everything was either a pickin’ treasure, a family heirloom, or something I made myself.
Danny proposed to me by engraving “will you marry me” on the silver plate on the back of the western saddle he gave me for my birthday. I got on my horse, noticed the new back plate, turned round in the saddle to read it, and then nearly fell off!!! It was so perfect!
I sent a pair of cowboy boots wrapped in tissue and lace, with a card I had made saying “Will you be my bridesmaid, because these boots were made for walking down the aisle.” I included a little insert in the card and a sewing tape measure and asked them to send it back with their measurements if the answer was yes. Then we made all the dresses out of regular quilting cotton. It was really fun to pick my own fabric and my own pattern. I wanted them to look similar, but I liked the thought of them fitting together like a patchwork quilt – so I picked blue fabrics as though I were quilting. Then I added different antique lace accents (I actually had the lace left over from when I studied abroad in England – I bought a bunch of antique lace in Portabello Road and had been saving it for something special). It was nice, when I was sewing them, to feel like I was making a gift for each of my bridesmaids to thank them for being with me on the special day. They were a lot of friends and female relatives collected together from different pieces of my life (most of them had never even met before), so it was sort of symbolic to have them, in their dresses, come together and wrap around me like a beautiful patchwork quilt on that wonderful day.
The pickers theme and the antique pieces it produced blended seamlessly with the old-west ranchy basics like hay bale couches and bridesmaids in boots (and the beautiful mountain sunset in the background – they call it Paradise Valley for a reason). Six shooters on the groomsman and The Saddle Tramps Band made it a western wedding but the hand-picked pieces in every corner made it unique.
The boutonnieres were housed in shotgun shells (Danny is a gun dealer).
Every piece and every moment had special significance to us – from the horse I rode in on (my very first horse and best friend, bought for me by my dad when I was 11, and now 30 years old and retired on the ranch) to the sword used to cut the cakes (a civil war relic used by Danny’s grandfather to cut rhubarb on his farm in Washington). There was so much significance packed in the place that to catalogue it all, and share it with guests, I included a special “tidbits” section in the wedding program, which gave the history of it all (and the history, after all, is what a picker truly treasures).
We held the ceremony on the front lawn just feet off the Yellowstone River facing Emigrant Peak. We set up about 100 hay bales for seating and Kacie (my photographer) and I studied the sunset times VERY carefully. We timed it just right too! Just as the sun set and turned the mountains all purple, I rode my horse Sam down from the barn! I rode toward my dad and then he lifted me off Sam at the top of the aisle and we walked down together.
We asked people to throw grass seed instead of rice to help us “sow the seeds of happiness”.
We made a “tell us your key to success” board. Danny and I took the “keys to success” with us on our honeymoon and read them as we went along. It was such a wonderful way to carry on the special loved and supported feeling that our guests gave us at the wedding.
The décor was the most fun for me, and definitely a huge part of our whole wedding plan. It was all little “vignettes” of antique items that Danny and I had “picked” throughout the years of our relationship.
We had old oil/vegetable/coffee cans, old blue mason jars, antique perfume bottles, and all kinds of old glassware, all filled with blue hydrangeas and greens. Those were mixed with little antique objects or things with significance for us, like my old copies of Jane Austin books, my western spurs, an antique coin toy Danny got me at our first garage sale… stuff like that. It was all stacked or strewn around on big wooden logs Danny and I saved from the bottom of trees we cut for firewood or on wooden ammo crates. And everything was arranged around couches made out of hay bales and covered with different pieces of fabric.
My advice: Talk early and earnestly about what is important to YOU as a couple – each of you individually and together. Maybe even do this before you talk to your family or friends. No matter how much faith you have in your family, weddings tend to amplify ALL of the underlying family or in-law tensions and you will inevitably end up torn between your own wishes and those of your family. Starting a marriage is about starting a life together and making a commitment to each other. It is not about family or guests, although its nice to have them there too. If you make each other and your relationship a priority throughout the process, even the worst family meltdowns (and mine lived up to every horror story) will be something you can manage – together.
I loved our getaway. Danny had rebuilt and repainted his 1969 GTO special for the wedding. We totally burned rubber (or grass, more likely) as we pealed out in the hotrod. It was awesome.
Sarah’s
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Kacie Q Photography. I cannot say enough about this WONDERFUL young woman. A ridiculous budding talent. You should book her now while she’s still being discovered because she should already be out of my price range given her amazing work! She is just so fabulous I cannot say enough in her praise.
Tent Rental: Montana Party Rentals. Really easy to deal with and very accommodating. They set up our tent a few days early so we could have extra time, and didn’t charge us for it! So nice!
Caterer: Faith Peterson, at Crazy Mountain Catering. My “foodie” family and friends were totally impressed and my “cowboy contingent” friends (and my husband, who has the palate of a 6 year-old) were equally satisfied – and that is a very hard thing to accomplish! Also super accommodating and easy to work with, despite the many last-minute changes I heaped on her!
Florist: Leslie Lukas Weddings and Events, got us beautiful flowers. And her bouquets and boutonnieres were wonderful.
Guest Lodging: Paradise Gateway B&B and Rivers Bend Lodge (owned by the same family) are just amazing. The Reeds are WONDERFUL people to deal with and absolutely as accommodating as they could possibly be. Rivers Bend Lodge is especially breathtaking. We renamed it “Groomstown” and lodged Danny’s entire family (and even some guests) there too.
Gown Designer: Casablanca Bridal. They essentially designed and built a custom dress for me. It fit so perfectly I didn’t have to have a single alteration.
Venue: River Rose
Honeymoon: We drove the coastal highway all the way from Seattle down to San Francisco and stopped at every junk store and garage sale along the way! We took our big pickup so we could fill it with our finds and we did! I even got a wonderful glass-fronted cabinet to display some of our treasures in. And the best part is that I can say I got that piece of furniture on our honeymoon!
A Rustic Fall Wedding in Colorado
From the bride, Amber: We just wanted a laid back wedding that was “comfortable” for everyone to enjoy yet memorable!
The ceremony was held on the lawn with the beautiful mountains in the background! The location just couldn’t be beat in our opinions! The highlight was the wonderful weather we had that day.
We had the reception in the barn, which is absolutely gorgeous.
The table linens were purple with burlap on top and the centerpieces were square vases with purple ribbon around the top and green apples inside with a sunflower on the top.
Jared wrote a little story on everyone’s personalized menu about the table that they were sitting at which was a different city/town in Germany that we were going to visit on our honeymoon!
Looking back, I LOVED that feeling of it being “your” day!! I HATED how fast the day went! Yikes it flew by! I CRIED as I walked down the aisle! Yep I was one of “those”!!! And yes I LAUGHED AND GIGGLED when I knew I would spend the rest of my life with the man I love!!! We had an awesome wedding!!!
Amber & Jared’s
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Venue: Crooked Willow Farms. Beautiful, nothing can compare in my opinion!
Event Design & Planner: JA Special Events. Jessica was wonderful to work with!! Love her and everything she did for us.
Photographer: Brinton Studios. Very easy and laid back couple. They were fun to work with and the results were amazing!! We love our pictures and they will be cherished forever!
Musicians: DJ RIPM and Maestro Hughes. Couldn’t have asked for anyone better! These two are remarkable together and really made that lasting touch for our wedding that everyone remembered!
Caterer & Dessert: Catering By Design // Florist: Statice Floral // Guest Lodging: Inverness Hotel // Videographer: Lupher Arts // Hair & Makeup: Haute Hair and Makeup
Honeymoon Location: Europe! England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Italy!!
A Lake Tahoe Winter Wedding Soiree
From the bride, Kaleolani:
I knew I wanted a mountainous winter wedding. After checking out a few venues in Northern California, I decided to stop in Tahoe to see a few more. I immediately fell in love with everything. The view, the hotels, the skiing, the activities, the lake, the location to the airport, everything!
I chose a color palette of the dark greens of a forest or mountain, the white of the ski runs, and the golden glitter when the sun sets over the lake. I wanted the mountain cabin feel but at the 5 star resort level.
Our ceremony was short and sweet and perfect.
We nailed a wooden wine box shut. The box had a bottle of wine, love letters to each other, and advice cards from all the guests inside. The box is not to be opened for 10 years.
I hated how fast the night went by! And how Jose and I hardly had a moment to sit back and enjoy! Everyone wanted to take a picture, talk to us, sit with us, dance with us, drink with us! I wish it could have lasted longer.
Jose and I had been practicing a Viennese Waltz for almost a year. We were excited to finally perform! It was perfect and a surprise for most of the guests.
My advice: Hire a wedding planner. My planner made my day perfect.
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: BTW Photography // Venue, Caterer, Lodging: Hyatt Regency Incline Village // Event Planner: Blue Sky Events // Band: The Mixx // Flowers & Linens: Thrans Flowers // Lighting: Celadon Events // Officiant: Dave Beronio // Favors: Howe House, custom Christmas bulbs // Hair & Makeup: Studio 89 Salon
A Winter Wedding in the Rocky Mountains
From the Groom, TJ:
We chose Estes Park because we knew we wanted our wedding in the mountains. The area is home to Rocky Mountain National Park; the entrance was 1/4 mile from the venue. Everything in the natural environment of the Park was continued in our venue (natural landscape, massive rock faces, 200 year old pines, lots and lots of snow and bluebird days). Naturally, we fell in love with it.
As Sally was walking down the aisle, she was ready to cry. I could see that, and knew that my duty as the groom was to say the perfect thing to her. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that was, so I just told her, “Hold it together.” Luckily for me, it worked, she had no second thoughts and I got to make her my bride a few minutes later.
We got married on one of the coldest days of the year, so it was very much an indoor affair. The ceremony presided over by an Air Force chaplain. We used parts of the lyrics to Neil Young’s “Down by the River” in our vows because (a) Neil Young is awesome and (b) “Be on my side, I’ll be on your side” and “Take My Hand, I’ll take yours” are actions of love and commitment. The song also includes the lyrics “Down by the River/ I shot my baby,” so we had to be a little selective about which parts to use.
Our décor was earthy. We used flagstones with wine bottles, aspen branches, and some glass icicles on the centerpieces.
We used a cake topper that is 3rd generation. It was on my grandparents’ wedding cake, my parents, and now mine.
Looking Back: Starting with a big decision by picking the venue first was the most helpful to our planning. Once we had a room in which we could picture getting married, we were able to build every other decision around that. Also, working with the look of the room helped us eliminate a lot of different ideas and options that were appealing, but just wouldn’t fit. We kind of shot from the hip in terms of a budget. I would recommend doing a little research beforehand, setting a reasonable budget for your means and what you want, then sticking to it.
TJ & Sally’s
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Venue: Della Terra Mountain Chateau. Unforgettable location, and the amenities of staying there are really incredible. It was also nice to have the place to ourselves and to know that the venue specializes in weddings. That meant that they helped us avoid some common pitfalls and had a number of tools (like tableware and linens) that we didn’t have to seek out from another spot.
Photographer: Stacey M Photography. Stacey took incredible photos and she was quick on her turn-around so we could see them. Couldn’t have asked for more from her.
Band/Musicians: Trout Steak Revival. They rocked our socks off! And learned a couple songs just for us.
Cake: Sweet Daphne Confections. Amazing cupcakes and variety.
Honeymoon Location: We hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. We booked through Inca Trail Reservations and found them to be very easy to work with.
A Rustic Wedding in Flagstaff, Arizona
From the bride, Mia:
We are from the city and LOVE everything about Flagstaff. Having the mountains and snow as the backdrop for our dream wedding was more then we could have asked for. Our wedding day was by far the most beautiful setting we could have ever imagined.
My advice: Hire a wedding planner! Seriously, I cannot stress this enough. Our planner handled everything!
Mia’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Event Planner: Kim Duncan, KD Event Designs // Photographer: Tangled Lilac Photography // Venue & Caterer: Flagstaff Ranch Golf Course // Floral Designer: Bliss Extraordinary Floral // Wedding Gown Designer: Alita Graham // Makeup Artist: Northern AZ Glam Squad